11-11-25

By Michael Robinson| Uvalde Hesperian

Uvalde County Commissioners voted to approve the purchase of a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado for the 38th District Attorney’s office for $66,559.01 from Uvalde Chevrolet. According to Uvalde County Grant Writer Carl Esser stated that advertisements for bids for the vehicle were placed with a locally printed newspaper and on Uvalde County’s website. He said Uvalde Chevrolet submitted the only bid received by the County.

  Esser stated funds for the purchase of the vehicle will come from the Board of Prosecution Unit Grant at no cost for Uvalde County.

 According to State of Texas Governor Greg Abbott Campaign website article from 2018, the Border Prosecution Unit was established in 2009 by the 81st Legislature. The article also states $5.8 million in grant funding is for the Border Prosecution Unit (BPU) to help crack down on gangs and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) along the Texas border.

“The BPU is made up of 17 district and county attorney offices within the Texas border region that focus on investigating and prosecuting cases related to narcotics, weapons, human trafficking, organized crime, gangs, and other border-related offenses. Nineteen BPU awards were released to District and County Attorneys in border communities across Texas,” the article reads.

 Commissioners also approved accepting a bid for a Mass Notification System. Esser said the Mass Notification System bid was awarded to the Reed Group $9,994 for the first year, with a recurring cost of $7,195 per year for a guaranteed three-year contract. The purchase for the system will be paid for out of the Uvalde County Emergency Operations Center Operations budget.

Uvalde County also accepted a FY 2026 Border Protection Unit Grant.  This is a recurring grant of $2,339,000. It’s a two-year grant beginning on September 1st, 2025, to August 1st, 2027.

Esser said the grant provides for the salaries of prosecutors and investigators involved in border related investigations to continue border related investigations as well as maximize resources.

 Diana Olvedo-Karau spoke after the court approved the grants expressing her concerns for tax monies being spent by the County placing a burden of taxes regular people have to pay whether it be local, state or national.

Karau also expressed her concern that the state funding for border related grants may run out eventually as conditions on the border have diminished greatly.